That’s One Angry Monkey

How do you follow up, arguably, the biggest and most critically acclaimed movie series of all time? Well, if you are Peter Jackson (the squat, Kiwi, Hobbitish, genius director) you take on the biggest monster movie of all time – and you develop the game simultaneously.

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A co-project between Jackson, his Weta visual effects studio and Ubisoft’s Montpellier team (headed up by acclaimed game guru Michel Ancel) are currently coding their way through King Kong and the results so far look pretty stunning.

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The game is set on the legendary Skull Island where Kong was found and you take control of Jack Driscoll (this time played on screen by Adrien Brody). The first person adventure sees you running up against the Isle’s massive breasts and witnessing the staggering power of Kong as he goes up against these adversaries.

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From a technical point of view the game promises to integrate some of Weta’s incredible special effects technology directly (we presume in a moderately scaled down manner!) and incorporate elements of team play, puzzle solving and outright action as Driscoll and his expedition make their way through Skull’s dark, over-sized jungle.

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Jackson says the breadth of the game means it will include environments and extra plot twists not seen in the film which should be enough to snare many of the director’s millions of fans worldwide (the potential of early plot leaks has meant huge sales of games based on the Star Wars prequels and LOTR series previously).

Unsurprisingly, King Kong the game will be available on just about every format under the sun when it is released towards the end of the summer. Bananas at the ready people, and let’s hope for some swinging Fay Wray style action from Ann Darrow shoe filler Naomi Watts.